405, previous Pr..
Training Atmosphere...
A lot of people come up with the crazy assertion that they can in-fact have a successful home gym... I'm here to tell you.. no... you can't. I'm as hardcore as the next arsehole, but even I, who had access to a treadmill, basketball court, heavy bag, squat rack, power blocks and speed bag, would only workout "hardcore"if friends were over watching and judging me.
Say what you will, there are very few successful "solo" types out there. Even if you don't have a partner, training in a gym always brings out the best in you. Case in point today, some guy at the Y was pressing 85's for incline press and cranking out reps..obviously, a very respectable weight... I, in all my ego, needed to grab the 90's and do the same...well...just because... someone was watching!
My point is, yes, you can get in moderate shape at home training alone, but with the right atmosphere, your boundaries are limitless... Even more so if you are going head to head against someone, the stopwatch or if people are looking.
Trust me, the power of influencing/impressing people can add 15-20 pounds to your bench press/lift.... whatever... a trip down to the local crossfit will show you that..
I hadn't ever been able to pull 450 from the floor in my life, yet there I was, at Crossfit Mississauga about 6 weeks ago, putting my name up on the board for the 3rd place record.... Suffice it to say, my previous PR was 405.....
My training partner, topped out at second on the deadlift next to an actual Olympian at 215 pounds. The last 5 months or so, her max was 165lbs
Did I magically gain 45 pounds on my deadlift without doing max effort lifts? No. The atmosphere brought the best out of me. I would likely not be able to post the same numbers on Joe Schmoes Soloflex machine in their basement....
It's times like this where I hold back, but in this case I won't.
Listen, you likely can't get in GREAT shape at home, alone, with nobody else there to judge, impress, or to push you. If it were that easy, personal trainers like myself wouldn't be getting $100 bucks an hour to help push you.
Atmosphere and training partners are not the only thing... it's EVERYTHING...
Take a look at these videos and tell me.. would these guys do better at home? Now really...watch these videos.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsYoEFoEohw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUaNHvJm_60
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVBgKB4Gnsw&feature=related
Now although I don't particularly like JF, his gym looks like a pretty cool place to train, albeit the total rue of Gym-Jones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y4qAHU4Zpg
Now back to the question: Would these people actually do better at home?
Of course they wouldn't .. the group setting brings out the best in all of us, it always has. It's the same mechanism that explains why an 85 pound lady can lift a car off her trapped child..
Adrenalin, fear for your life and fear of failure can bring the best out of everyone..
So ask yourself this next time you step in the gym...
If you aren't actually fearful of the workout ahead.. is it really the most productive?
I myself only get truly amped when I think i can possibly die of a coronary on the box jump or aneurysm right there on the bench press. Or better yet, if a prettly lady is within the vicinity!
:)
Our gym will have the same mentality as Gym-Jones and Crossfit.. but, with all due respect to both, we bring a slightly different approach, and one that makes more sense from a "looking great naked" standpoint... Functional, Conditioned and a sexy Mofo!
:0 )
Where crossfit and gym jones fail is in the hypertrophy aspect....we of course want people in shape, conditioning wise first... but we also want them to look... " in shape" or.. "look the part"
That's why the last 20 minutes of every SRX workout is dedicated to "beach work" or as Jermaine O'Neal of the Miami Heat calls it... " my prison workout!"
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